Fantasy sports card game

ABSTRACT

A fantasy football rewind game providing a deck of playing cards with each of the cards having indicia associated with a fantasy player having a fantasy point value corresponding to a real life player in a professional sports league, a fantasy event from a previous season of a fantasy sports league of the professional sports league, or a game action for each game player is provided. The fantasy football rewind game may be initiated by a plurality of game players. Chips having a monetary value may be acquired and lost by each game player. Game play includes choosing to play a drawn playing card or a card from one&#39;s hand, wherein the fantasy players can be collected in a lineup panel. The goal is to amass the highest of the combination of fantasy point values of the collected fantasy lineup panel and the monetary value from the chips.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 62/029,731, filed 28 Jul. 2014, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of card games and, more particularly, to a card game utilizing fantasy sports results from previous fantasy sports league seasons.

Fantasy sports leagues are a multi-billion dollar industry, but there are few fantasy sports games that can be played outside of the typical fantasy sports league season. As a result, the end of each fantasy football season brings feelings of sadness and depression for many diehard fantasy football fans. Many fantasy football fans wish for a fantasy football experience that can be played outside the typical fantasy season, thus filling the void left while fantasy enthusiasts await the start of the next season.

Currently there are no fantasy sports games that afford users the opportunity to rewind, review, answer trivia, and challenge one's ability to recall fantasy sports league highlights, allowing players to revisit professional sport league fantasy moments, whereby previous fantasy seasons are never actually “over;” rather, they can be re-experienced as often as a player wishes.

As can be seen, there is a need for a card game utilizing fantasy sports results from previous fantasy sports league seasons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a method of playing a game includes dealing a predetermined number of playing cards from a deck of cards to each of a plurality of game players, wherein the deck of cards includes a plurality of player cards, wherein each of the player card is associated with a fantasy player having a fantasy point value predetermined by previously played fantasy sports league comprising a plurality of fantasy teams each comprising the fantasy player corresponding to a real life player; wherein the game players take a turn, each turn for each respective game player includes drawing one playing card from at least one of the deck of cards and a discard pile (practice field region); playing a playing card, wherein game playing includes creating a collection of lineup panel cards; and summing the fantasy point values of all lineup panel cards at an end of game play.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a game board of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a fantasy lineup panel of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a pigskin chip of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of the pigskin chip of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of a game play of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic relational view of an exemplary embodiment of a card structure of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a fantasy sports card game providing a plurality of playing cards, each playing card having indicia associated to (i) a fantasy player corresponding to a real life player in a professional sports league, (ii) a fantasy event from a previous season of a fantasy sports league or (iii) a game action for each game player of the card game to perform. The fantasy sports card game may be initiated by a plurality of game players, known as team owners, and the fantasy sports card game can include embodiments regarding specific portions of a specific season of a specific professional sports leagues, like professional American football. Play money, pigskin chips, each having a monetary value may be acquired by each team owner. A predetermine number of playing cards are dealt to each team owner. All game action cards are returned to the bottom of the deck and replaced with new cards. When all team owners have the predetermined number of playing cards, none of which are the game action cards, game play begins. The predetermined number hand must be maintained. On a game player's turn, s/he chooses to draw a playing card from a deck of cards or draw a card from a discard pile, and then chooses to play the drawn card or play a card from their hand. The turn is over, and game play progresses clockwise. The goal is for each game player to fill up his fantasy lineup panel with the best fantasy-performing players with respect to their fantasy points, and to collect the highest pigskin chip count so as to have the highest total game points—combination of monetary and fantasy point values.

When the first game player fills his fantasy lineup panel, the game is over.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, the present invention may include a fantasy football rewind game (FFRG) 100 for one of a plurality of predetermined seasons of a professional American football league (PAFL), such as the YYYY PAFL season. It being understood that the FFRG 100 may be representative of one of numerous fantasy sports leagues, wherein each fantasy sports league includes a plurality of fantasy teams each including a plurality of fantasy player corresponding to a real life player in a professional sports league. The FFRG 100 may include at least one game board 10; a plurality of lineup panels 34; a plurality of fantasy football stat booklets for the YYYY PAFL season (not shown); at least one playbook/instruction manual (not shown); at least one 16 and 17-sided die (not shown), each side corresponding to a week in the YYYY PAFL season; a plurality of pigskin chips (PCs); and a plurality of playing cards 90.

Each game board 10 may include a stadium region 12, a practice field region 14, a set-up region 16, a discard player card region 18, a trivia card region 20, a discard pile region 22, a draw pile region 24, a bank region 26, and a donated PC region 28, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Each lineup panel 34 may provide a placement region 36 adapted to receive a plurality of playing cards 90. In certain embodiments, the placement region 36 may be adapted to include a quarterback (QB) region, two running back (RB) regions, two wide receiver (WR) regions, a tight end (TE) region, a kicker (K) region and a defense/special teams (D/ST) region, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The plurality of PC may include a five-point PCs 30, a plurality of ten-point PCs 32, and the like, wherein the monetary value ($ value) may be displayed on the PC. The monetary value typically corresponds to an equivalent game point value on a one-to-one ratio—i.e., five-point PC ($5) corresponds to a value of five game points.

The plurality of playing cards 90 may include a plurality of player cards 92; a plurality of no-huddle cards 94; a plurality of other cards 96; a plurality of cheat sheet cards 98; and a plurality of a time out trivia (TOT) cards 82.

The plurality of player cards 92 may include a plurality of quarterback (QB) cards 44; a plurality of running back (RB) cards 40; a plurality of wide receiver

(WR) cards 48; a plurality of tight end (TE) cards 50; a plurality of kicker (K) cards 46; and a plurality of defense/special teams (DST) cards 42, wherein the defense/special teams correspond with a real defense/special team of the PAFL from the predetermined season, and wherein each QB, RB, WR, TE and K fantasy player corresponds to a real life player playing those positions in the PAFL from the predetermined season. Each real life player, via the stat booklets for the predetermined week for the relevant YYYY PAFL season, has a corresponding fantasy point value. Each fantasy point value equates to a game point value on a predetermined ratio, typically one-to-one.

The plurality of no-huddle cards 94, other cards 96, cheat sheet cards 98, and TOT cards 82 are adapted to increase or reduce a team owner's game points, either by modifying that team owner's monetary value (PCs) or the fantasy points corresponding to player cards 92.

The no-huddle cards 94 include a plurality of vulture cards 52; a plurality of injured reserve cards 54; a plurality of perilous path cards 56; a plurality of players in motion (PIM) cards 58; and a plurality of game time cards 60. The other cards 96 may include a plurality of breakout player cards 62; a plurality of twice as nice cards 64; a plurality of kick or receive 66; a plurality of its for a good cause cards 68; a plurality of screen pass cards 70; a draw a time out trivia cards 72; and a plurality of big surprise (BS) cards 74. The cheat sheet cards 98 may include a plurality of legal aid cards, a plurality of first aid cards 78; and a plurality of bye bye bye cards 80.

A method of using the present invention may include the following. The FFRG 100 disclosed herein may be provided. The FFRG 100 may be initiated by a plurality of game players, or “team owners”, each receiving the lineup panel 34 and the stat booklet, and the playbook/instruction manual. Then the team owners (game players) may decide on a multi-card hand to maintain during game play so that at the end of each turn the predetermined numbered multi-card hand must always be maintained. The die may be rolled prior to game start to determine which week of the YYYY season is being “rewound”.

The method of using the FFRG 100 may include providing a deck of cards (not shown) may include at least a portion of the plurality of cards 90, where in the deck is shuffled and disposed on the draw pile region 24 face down, wherein the plurality of TOT cards 82 may be shuffled and placed in the trivia card region 20 of the practice field region 14 of the game board 10.

In certain embodiments, the FFRG 100 may be applicable to other sports, such as fantasy baseball rewind, fantasy basketball rewind, and the like.

The FFRG 100 may include at least one computer with a user interface. The computer may include any computer including, but not limited to, a desktop, laptop, and smart device, such as, a tablet and smart phone. The computer includes a program product including a machine-readable program code for causing, when executed, the computer to perform steps. The program product may include software which may either be loaded onto the computer or accessed by the computer. The loaded software may include an application on a smart device. The software may be accessed by the computer using a web browser. The computer may access the software via the web browser using the internet, extranet, intranet, host server, internet cloud and the like.

Player Cards 92

After determining which YYYY PAFL season is applicable, the method of using the FFRG 100 may include each game player (team owner) being dealt the predetermined numbered multi-card hand. Then a user may roll the 16 or 17-sided die to determine which week in the YYYY PAFL season. Then, in turn, each player draws from the drawing deck in the draw pile region 24, and then if the drawn card is a player card 92, the team owner decides to add the drawn or a in-hand playing card 90 into the lineup panel 34. For example, if a running back is drawn, then the card may be placed in the RB region of the lineup panel 34. If the player card is placed on the lineup panel 34, the corresponding fantasy points earned by that player during the given week of the “rewind” YYYY season will count toward the total game points at end of the game.

Alternatively, the game player may discard the player card 92 in the discard player card region 18 and place a player card 92 from their dealt hand on of the lineup panel 34. Moreover, the team owner can discard a different card from his hand, keeping the drawn player card 92. Discarded player cards 92 in the discard player card region 18 are available for other team owners to view and steal during their respective turn.

No-Huddle Cards 94

No-huddle cards 94 are associated with game actions, known as game action cards, and when drawn must be played immediately. Generally, each no-huddle card 94 is associated with a modification of a team owner's game points by modifying either the monetary value of their PC or the fantasy value of their player cards 92.

By way of example, the vulture cards 52 may require the game player to donate (be fined) a predetermined value of PC to the donated PC region 28 of the practice field region 14. For example, in fantasy football rewind 2012 NFL™ (Trademark of National Football League UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION) Edition: “Eagles Tight End Clay Harbor scores a 4-yard TD reception vs. the Browns in Week 1, which hurt many DeSean Jackson owners. Pay a fine of a 5-point PC 30 to the practice field region 14, thereby reducing the monetary value of the team owner. In certain embodiments, the fines are doubled if rewinding/playing Week 1” (as previously determined by rolling the 16 or 17-sided die). In certain embodiments, if at any point during game play a game player cannot fulfill an obligation to pay a fine, said game player loses his next turn as a consequence.

If a game player drawing the injury reserve card 54 has the referenced fantasy player on his lineup panel 34, the game player must immediately donate the player to the practice field region 14. If the person who draws the injury reserve card 54 does not have the referenced player in the lineup panel 34, the game player must donate a player of the same position from his lineup panel 34 to the practice field region 14, if he has one available. For example, in fantasy football rewind 2012 NFL™ (Trademark of National Football League UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION) Edition, if the injury reserve card 54 associated Darren McFadden is drawn, the game player must donate either Darren

McFadden or another running back from the lineup to the practice field region 14, if they have a running back in the lineup. Whoever draws the injury reserve card 54 and donates a player card 92 must redraw from the deck raws back to the predetermined multi-card hand.

When a perilous path card 56 is drawn, the game player must follow the game actions associated with the perilous path card 56, and draw back to the predetermined multi-card hand. For example, the perilous path card 56 may be associated with instructions: “Penalty Offensive Pass Interference: This penalty permanently blocks one offensive player position in your lineup panel 34 such that the position cannot be filled. Use this card in the lineup panel 34 in lieu of a player card 92. When game points are tallied at end of game, this card is worth zero fantasy points”.

Players in motion (PIM) cards 58: if a team owner draws a PIM card 58 is drawn, the game player must follow the game actions associated with the PIM card 58, and draw back to the predetermined multi-card hand. PIM cards 48 are associated with specific fantasy players or fantasy teams, and the consequences of the cards are applicable to the game player holding the corresponding player cards 92. The monetary value of team owners are increased or reduced as a result of PIM Cards 58 and the game action instructions related to modifying their PCs: either collecting PC from the bank region 26 or donating PC to the donated PC region 28. For example, a PIM card 58 from fantasy football rewind 2012 NFL™ (Trademark of National Football League UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION) edition may read “The Packers block a Jaguars punt and recover for a TD in Week 8. Collect 5-point PC 30 for each Packer in your lineup; Pay 5-point PC 30 to the practice field region for each Jaguar in your lineup. Fantasy point values are doubled if rewinding/playing Week 8.”

Other Cards 96

The other cards 96 may associated with positive game event outcomes, known as game event cards, benefiting the game player who plays the other card 96, include the following:

The breakout cards 62 may be played when drawn or saved in predetermined multi-card hand until ready to play. Each breakout cards 62 includes associated game event instructions. For example, there are breakout cards 62 associated with the game event instructions, “Replay of Down: Negates any Consequence”. A game player may choose to keep this card in his/her hand until hit with a penalty, either from the deck or from another player. At that time, the Replay of Down: Negates any Consequence card would be played, and the game player would draw from the deck to reestablish a five-card hand.

Twice as nice Cards 52: the twice as nice cards 52 may increase the value of a player's fantasy points. For example, there may be a twice as nice card 52 with associated instruction of “Attach this card to any QB for double fantasy point value”. A game player would place the twice as nice card 52 on top of a QB card 44 in their lineup panel 34, and double the fantasy point value associated with that QB card 44 for the predetermined week for given YYYY PAFL season.

It's for a good cause cards 56 may offer benefits to the card holder and are based on recognition of charitable contributions made by NFL™ (Trademark of National Football League UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION) players, and in certain embodiments allow a team owner to raid the donated PC region 28, thereby increasing their monetary point value.

Kick or receive cards 66 may reward game players for kickers (K) and wide receivers in their lineup panel 34 or in their hand.

Big Surprise (BS) Cards 74

Each BS card 74 are associated with game event cards that may highlight fantasy players from relevant the predetermined season. The BS card 74 may correspond to a fantasy player, a fantasy team and/or a fantasy position, whereby the card holder may steal a player card 92 from the practice field region 14 or from any other game player's lineup panel 34 that is associated with the corresponding fantasy player, team and/or position. For example, in fantasy football rewind 2012 associated with the NFL™ (Trademark of National Football League UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATION), a BS card 74 may correspond to Doug Martin, the Buccaneers, and the running back position by providing “You started the Buccaneers Doug Martin in Week 9 vs. the Raiders as he scored 4 TDs and 251 yards”. When this exemplary BS Card 74 is played, the team owner can steal from the practice field region 14 or from another game player's line-up panel, one of the following:

-   -   a) the player card 92 corresponding to the fantasy player of the         BS card 74 (in this example, Doug Martin)     -   b) any player card 92 on the corresponding fantasy team (in this         example, the Buccaneers); and/or     -   c) any player card 92 in the same corresponding fantasy position         (in this example, a RB card 40).

In the example, the BS Card 74 can be used to steal any Buccaneers player. If the game player is short at the wide receiver position, he might choose to steal Vincent Jackson (assuming his card is available on the practice field region 14 or on the lineup panel 34 of another team owner. If a game player is short a QB, he can steal Josh Freeman (a Buccaneer in 2012) if his player card 92 is on the practice field region 14 or on the lineup panel 34 of another team owner. Since the

BS card 74 in the example was Doug Martin, a RB, the card holder can also use the BS card 74 to steal any RB, for example, it could be the 2012 Ray Rice or the 2012 Trent Richardson.

Time Out Trivia (TOT) Cards 82

The TOT cards 82 are game event cards that may be placed on the trivia card region 20 of the practice field region 14 of the game board 10. Each TOT card 82 may be associated with a trivia question a game player must answer and a positive game point value associated with the correct answer to the trivia question and/or a negative game point value associated with an incorrect answer to the trivia question. When a game player draws the draw the TOT card 82, the game player to the right draws the TOT card 82 from the trivia card region 20, and then reads the corresponding trivia question aloud. If the initial game player answers the corresponding trivia question correctly, they may collects the PCs from the bank region 26 corresponding to associated game points. An example of a trivia question may be “Name at least two of the top five RBs for fantasy owners in 2012.” Answers: Peterson, Martin, Foster, Lynch, Morris among others.

The computer-based data processing system and method described above is for purposes of example only, and may be implemented in any type of computer system or programming or processing environment, or in a computer program, alone or in conjunction with hardware. The present invention may also be implemented in software stored on a computer-readable medium and executed as a computer program on a general purpose or special purpose computer. For clarity, only those aspects of the system germane to the invention are described, and product details well known in the art are omitted. For the same reason, the computer hardware is not described in further detail. It should thus be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific computer language, program, or computer. It is further contemplated that the present invention may be run on a stand-alone computer system, or may be run from a server computer system that can be accessed by a plurality of client computer systems interconnected over an intranet network, or that is accessible to clients over the Internet. In addition, many embodiments of the present invention have application to a wide range of industries. To the extent the present application discloses a system, the method implemented by that system, as well as software stored on a computer-readable medium and executed as a computer program to perform the method on a general purpose or special purpose computer, are within the scope of the present invention. Further, to the extent the present application discloses a method, a system of apparatuses configured to implement the method are within the scope of the present invention.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of playing a game, comprising: dealing a predetermined number of playing cards from a deck of cards to each of a plurality of game players, wherein the deck of cards includes a plurality of player cards, wherein each of the player card is associated with a fantasy player having a fantasy point value predetermined by a previously played fantasy sports league comprising a plurality of fantasy teams each comprising the fantasy player corresponding to a real life player; wherein the game players take a turn, each turn for each respective game player includes drawing one playing card from at least one of the deck of cards and a discard pile; playing a playing card, wherein game playing includes creating a collection of lineup panel cards; and summing the fantasy point values of all lineup panel cards at an end of game play.
 2. The method of claim 1, further compromising, prior to dealing, providing each game player with a total monetary value; wherein the end of game playing further comprising adding the total monetary value to the summed fantasy point values.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the total monetary value is the summation of a plurality of pigskin chips, each pigskin chip having an associated monetary value.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of playing cards include a plurality of game action cards, and wherein each drawn game action card modifies at least one of the total monetary value of at least one game player and the fantasy point value of at least one player card.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of playing cards include a plurality of game event cards, and wherein each drawn game action card increases at least one of the total monetary value of at least one game player and the fantasy point value of at least one player card.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein a season of the previously played fantasy sports league is determined by the plurality of game players prior to dealing the predetermined number of playing cards.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising rolling a die to determine a portion of the season of the previously played fantasy sports league prior to dealing the predetermined number of playing cards.
 8. The method of claim 4, further comprising a plurality of time out trivia cards, wherein each time out trivia card is associated with a trivia question and a increase in the total monetary value of at least one corresponding with a correct answer to the trivia question, and wherein one of the plurality of game action cards instructs the at least one game player to answer one time out trivia cards.
 9. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of game action cards comprise a plurality of injury reserve cards, wherein each injury reserve card is associated with a specific fantasy player, wherein the player card associated with the specific fantasy player must be discarded to the discard pile if the player card and the injured reserve card corresponding to the specific fantasy player are held by the same game player.
 10. The method of claim 4, wherein the modification of the at least one of the total monetary value is a decrease thereof, and wherein an amount of the decrease is donated to a region on a game board. 